> From: "Thurman Pedigo" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Organization: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Reply-To: hardhats-members@lists.sourceforge.net
> Date: Fri, 15 Apr 2005 09:54:15 -0500
> To: <hardhats-members@lists.sourceforge.net>
> Subject: RE: [Hardhats-members] BIG NEWS re HealtheVet- St. Petersburg Tim es
>
> Wow! That explains why MUMPS is so much faster then the old KFAM I cut my
> teeth on - AND why MUMPS won a "shoot-out" I set up between it and the Pick
> operating system in the 80's(anyone remember Dick Pick?). I think my memory
> is correct that $O sorted 100,000 records in less than a minute and Pick was
> still going after 30 min.
>
> Now for the real question - where does SQL fall in this multi-way B-tree
> hierarchy?
>
> Thanks,
>
> thurman
>
Thurman, the simple answer is SQL does not fall in the underlying B-tree
hierarchy!!!
You have been misdirected by the well meaning but equally misdirected
discussion that appeared between my response and your question.
The matter is suitable for several weeks of classes in a graduate level IT
course, so I can't go from Kindergarten to 12th grade on this point in a
short message here.
Nonetheless, I will make a few statements at the risk of failing to clarify
the matter for you, Thurman.
1. The MUMPS Global system is a relatively high level abstraction that
describes the behavior of a system for managing persistent bindings between
symbols and data. This system exists entirely in a conceptual domain that
does not depend on any particular underlying implementation technology, be
it "B-tree" or whatever else.
2. The relational data management system described by the Standard Query
Language standard (SQL) is likewise a high level abstraction that exists
conceptually in a layer that is independent of the underlying implementation
technology, what ever that may be.
3. Discussions about relational database systems that become focused on
such base layer technologies as "B-trees" have wondered off the reservation
and are blindly stumbling around in the wilderness.
4. As for hierarchy in data management systems, the common 'relational
database' system, also referred to as an SQL database system, is
hierarchical!
a. Any given hierarchy can be assigned a value that reflects the
"order" of that hierarchy in an infinitely large family of hierarchies.
There can be a hierarchy of order 5, or of order 2, or of order 1.
b. A hierarchy of order 1 is the simplest order and is easily
recognized by practically anyone as a "table". A given table may have 1 or
more rows and one or more columns. (Note a simplest table is a grocery
list.) The "relational database" creators have chosen to limit that system
to hierarchical order 1, the 'table' as the domain of elementary data
structures. This decision opens up the possibility that such a system can
include a calculus for manipulating the data in the system where that
calculus is fully deterministic, hence completely predictable.
c. VA FileMan can be used to create a system of 'files' that are
restricted to file structures that simple tables. In this sense then this
system of tables in FileMan corresponds structurally to a "relational
database". However, FileMan does NOT offer the calculus for operating on
such a system of files using the SQL operations for manipulating the data in
that system. If a FileMan system of files includes file structures that
contain sub-files, and/or 'pointer' linkages among files, then this system
of files is no longer of hierarchy order 1, and is not, therefore, similar
to a 'relational database' structure.
5. In the context of superiority debates--my database management system can
beat up on your database management system--it is important to carefully
take into consideration the need to include mention of the underlying
technology. ...and, to know when mention of the underlying technology is
not relevant to the debate. ...and, further to be especially careful to
prevent the mention of underlying technology from pushing aside the original
discussion about the relative merits of high level abstractions like MUMPS
globals and SQL tables.
...
....
.....
......
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